IOWA CITY, Iowa — Oliver Martin was the most prolific receiver in Iowa high school history. Daviyon Nixon was an athletic marvel in Kenosha, Wis., with an academic asterisk by his name.
Martin left Iowa City for Michigan two years ago. Nixon signed with Iowa, didn’t qualify, played a year of junior-college football and still ended up a Hawkeye.
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During winter workouts, Nixon, an academic redshirt last season, wasn’t sure if Iowa was his best fit. Martin only wanted to return home. Ultimately, Nixon stayed put and Martin became the Iowa’s latest prodigal son.
On display Friday was a tale of two transfer portal candidates. Nixon, a defensive tackle, put in his name and stayed at Iowa. Martin, a wide receiver, spent a month deciding his future before he entered the portal and returned to Iowa City. Nixon is ready to make an impression right away on the field. Martin is still waiting for his waiver from the NCAA.
Collectively, nobody commanded a higher profile at Iowa’s media day than the sophomore duo of Martin and Nixon. Their on-field impact this fall could separate Iowa from a good season and a potentially great season.
Oliver’s Twist
Two miles west of Kinnick Stadium lies Martin’s high school, Iowa City West. Clad in green and gold, Martin (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) tipped the field every time he strapped on his helmet. Martin finished his career with a state-record 239 career catches, one more than former Iowa tight end and Detroit Lions’ first-round pick T.J. Hockenson. Martin’s 3,449 career receiving yards rank fourth all-time and 33 touchdown receptions are eighth (but both are the most ever in Class 4A, Iowa’s largest class). During his senior year in 2016, Martin led the state in receiving yards (1,272) was second in catches (85) and caught 14 touchdown passes (most in Class 4A).
Quiet, thoughtful and reserved, Martin was taken aback by the recruiting attention in late 2016. He barely had a scholarship offer after his junior football season. By Thanksgiving of his senior year, nearly every Midwestern school wanted him. He chose Michigan over Iowa and Notre Dame. Martin redshirted in 2017 and became a rotational player in 2018. He started one game, caught 11 passes for 125 yards and a score.
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This year, he was set to make an impact with the Wolverines. Last month at Big Ten media days, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said, “He really had a heck of a spring and was at the top of our depth chart coming out of spring ball.”
But for whatever reason, the situation wasn’t working for Martin. He declined to reveal what happened at Michigan — “I appreciate the interest on that topic, but I don’t really want to go into it” — but he chose to leave.
“I really started thinking about it probably a month before I made the decision,” Martin said. “I took that discretionary month, May, where there’s not really a lot of obligation for school or football to think about it and talk it over with my family, people close to me that have a lot of influence over me. And then I made a decision.”
The decision surprised Harbaugh, who tried to persuade Martin to return. The coach who jumped in a swimming pool to celebrate landing Martin’s commitment was unsuccessful in convincing him to stay.
“That made the decision even harder for me, talking to the coaches and having them express how they feel about me, and where they envisioned me fitting into the offense over the rest of my career there,” Martin said. “That just made me think about the decision a little bit longer to consider it a little bit more.”
Nixon’s whirlwind journey
Brimming with a personality as gregarious as his 6-foot-3, 309-pound frame, Nixon handled his first interview session with comfort and confidence. He smiled, he laughed and he answered difficult questions both carefully and articulately.
Nixon’s path from southeast Wisconsin to Iowa football’s media day was jagged and filled with uncertainty. Academic issues early in his high school career forced Nixon to spend his final two years catching up. Many nearby Power-5 schools avoided him altogether, but Iowa kept in contact. Nixon signed with the Hawkeyes in 2017 and the program hoped he would qualify. He didn’t.
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Iowa appealed his case to the NCAA, and Nixon enrolled at Iowa Western Community College. In one season, Nixon became a terror on the field with five sacks and nine tackles for loss. In fall 2017, Iowa’s appeal was successful, and Nixon was allowed to enroll for the winter semester.
Then Alabama offered him.
“That’s like the school everyone wants to get an offer,” Nixon said. “You know, the biggest school in college football, a lot of people would say. I was happy; who wouldn’t be happy?”
Nixon called the Iowa staff to tell them about the offer.
“They were like, ‘Congratulations,’” Nixon said. “’But, you know, we’ve been here.’ I’m like, ‘I’m still here.’”
Nixon reaffirmed his commitment to Iowa at a ceremony in Council Bluffs, Iowa and came to campus in January. But the appeal had a stipulation attached. Nixon was forced to take an academic redshirt year.
Looking back, Nixon calls his trail from Kenosha to junior college and ultimately to Iowa City “a blessing” from his semester at Iowa Western to his academic redshirt experience.
“I learned to be humble and grateful for everything you have, honestly,” Nixon said. “Going there, we didn’t have like the best café, but we had good food. And we didn’t have the best practice field, but we had a field to practice on. Going there, it just taught me that you live and you learn and you’ve got to be grateful for everything you get in life.”
Even at Iowa, Nixon’s experience wasn’t smooth. An incident at a dorm resulted in an investigation that forced him to live off campus and stay away from the team. There was no incident report, and Nixon was cleared of any wrongdoing. He rejoined the program last spring.
Now teammates, Daviyon Nixon (left) and Oliver Martin (right) had different experiences in the NCAA transfer portal. (Photos by Scott Dochterman / The Athletic)“What happened last fall was I just needed to take a step back and just make sure I was comfortable with what I had going on and a lot of things,” Nixon said. “So that’s pretty much what happened.”
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The situation caused Nixon to re-evaluate his life choices. He wasn’t sure Iowa was for him and wanted to check out his options.
“I entered the transfer portal because I was like having second thoughts about whether or not I wanted to be here and I was wanted here,” he said. “But after talking to the coaches and things like that, I just knew that this was always the home for me.”
Coming home
Once Martin put his name into the portal, there was one place he wanted to go.
“As soon as I decided to transfer, I knew that I wanted to come home,” he said. “As soon as the opportunity presented itself to come here, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t really go into the portal hoping to see other options. I just wanted to come home.”
Martin visited the school and a locker was prepared for him. He joined the team during summer workouts and has fit right in.
As an assistant with Northern Illinois in 2016, Iowa receivers coach Kelton Copeland recruited Martin until the Power-5 schools jumped in. When Martin joined the team, their brief conversations became an icebreaking anecdote.
Copeland compared Martin’s process to learning a new language this summer. Translating the terminology takes time, especially after Martin dealt with two offensive systems at Michigan in fall 2018 and spring 2019. But for Copeland, the priority was for Martin to enhance the unit’s chemistry before training camp.
“OK, yes, he’s learning, on and off the field, but how quick can he fit in with other guys?” Copeland said. “He’s done a tremendous job of that, just being himself. And I would give our guys a lot of credit. A lot of the vets, they brought him in and told him, ‘Hey, guy, we want you to be here. You’re welcome here. You’re going to help us win. That’s exactly what they’ve done, and he’s done a good job of fitting in.”
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The physical side is where Martin shines. He was a four-star prospect in 2017 and soared to the top of Michigan’s depth chart. Although Iowa’s receiving corps has ascended to perhaps its best level since 2011, its talent doesn’t measure favorably against the Wolverines’ room.
“You can tell that he’s physically developed,” Copeland said. “He’s been in somebody’s program. He looks developed when running routes. Physically, his speed, his strength, his catching ability, all that you see is a little polished. So that obviously a bonus, right? You get an advanced player.”
“He’s very talented,” starting Iowa split end Brandon Smith. “Even though the stars don’t matter, but we’re really happy that we were able to get him from Michigan and he’s showed a lot for us. Even (quarterback) Nate (Stanley) was talking about him.”
Martin’s status this fall is uncertain, however. Iowa filed an appeal with the NCAA for Martin to gain eligibility this fall. There’s no timetable on when the compliance department will receive a ruling. Martin declined to reveal what specifics he documented in his appeal.
It’s too early in camp for the staff to plan, let alone panic, about Martin’s availability. Ferentz has identified Aug. 21 as the separation date on the depth chart. Perhaps Martin will know by then whether he’ll run Iowa’s scheme this fall or the Wolverines’ spread offense — at least for one week in October, anyway.
“I think I can play any of the three receiver spots,” Martin said. “I’m studying each position, learning the concepts entirely from every spot to enable myself to play anywhere that they need me to.”
An impact player
There’s no ambiguity about Nixon’s standing, especially at defensive tackle. Iowa lost starters Matt Nelson and Sam Brincks up front, although seniors Cedrick Lattimore and Brady Reiff saw action on about 40 percent of the plays. Iowa wants to rotate four, perhaps five, defensive tackles, and Nixon will be one of them.
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“He can always improve fundamentally in terms of hat placement, where his eyes are, making sure he’s bringing his legs,” defensive line coach Kelvin Bell said. “But God blessed him with some gifts. He’s a big kid. He’s athletic. But fundamentally, the defensive line-wise, he’s got a ways to go. And that’s an ongoing thing.”
Wisconsin backup offensive lineman Andrew Lyons played against Nixon when they both lived in Kenosha. Nixon’s physical prowess was obvious even in their competitions.
“He’s huge. His arms, his wingspan is like unreal,” Lyons said. “He’s got so much length, and he’s really strong, too.”
“He’s got very long arms, so he uses that to his advantage,” Lattimore said. “He gets off blocks quicker.”
But Iowa’s staff hesitates to fully discuss Nixon as an impact player. His last game was in the UNI-Dome as a junior-college player in December 2017. Until he performs against Power-5 offensive linemen, Nixon remains a talented question mark.
“Once the kid learns to apply the gifts that he has, obviously the length, a big broad body and he’s got a motor, he’s more athletic than you think, he has the potential going to be a really good player on the inside,” Bell said.
(Top photo of Oliver Martin by Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)
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